On the Floor

Healthy Vision 2020

Healthy Vision 2020, our strategic roadmap for TMA's state and federal advocacy initiatives for the remainder of the decade.

Texas Legislature

TMA's 2015 Legislative Agenda

The physicians of this great state are committed to improving the health of all Texans. To get there, we must enhance the environment in which Texas physicians practice medicine. The current road may be filled with bumps and even dangerous curves, but TMA is dedicated to smoothing those bumps and straightening out those curves so that we can see where we will travel. Our government must make it easier — not more difficult — for us to care for our patients.
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Advocacy Articles

Medicare

Feds Delay Final Medicare Overpayment RuleThe Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced last week it needs another year to finalize rules on reporting and returning Medicare overpayments. First issued three years ago to implement parts of the Affordable Care Act, the proposed rule (better known as the 60-day rule) requires physicians and other health care providers to report and refund overpayments within 60 days from the date the overpayment is identified or the date the corresponding cost report is due.

Health Insurance

The Truth About Balance BillingA pair of newly developed TMA resources examine how insurance plans' network designs and payment decisions are leaving many Texans with "surprise bills" for health care services.

Public Health

Measles Outbreak Adds 33 Cases to Reach 154In response to the growing 2015 measles outbreak, which at press time stood at 154 U.S. cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has beefed up its website to include resources to help physicians in their practice.

Legislature

First Tuesdays at the CapitolThe "White Coat Invasion" has been the key to physicians' successes in the Texas legislature since the inception of First Tuesdays at the Capitol in 2003. Our senators and representatives listen when their hometown doctors appear in their offices. Our influence is so much greater when physicians and alliance members arrive en masse in the House and Senate galleries. It's time again to bring out Texas medicine's strongest weapon.

Court Blocks TMB's Emergency Rules Restricting Telemedicine PracticesA district court on Jan. 20 issued a temporary restraining order against the Texas Medical Board's newly issued emergency rules that would disallow remote prescribing unless the physician first conducts a face-to-face or in-person physical examination. The court granted the order at the request of one of the nation's largest telephone medicine providers who claimed that the board's Jan. 16, emergency rules violate rulemaking procedure.

Medicare

Feds Say They Cut Burden of RAC AuditsIn response to industry feedback, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) last month released 20 improvements to its Recovery Audit Contractors (RAC) program to reduce its burden on physicians, enhance oversight, and increase transparency. The changes take effect when the next recovery auditor contracts are awarded and are listed on the CMS website.

Texas Medicine

Accessing Texas' Public Mental Health SystemThere are many reasons why discussion of mental illness and its treatment may be cursory in primary care and in emergency situations. In many cases, the likely culprit in the muted discussion is the difficulty in accessing mental health care.

Health System Reform

ACA Exchange Plans: Q&A for Texas PhysiciansUpdated: December 2014. Confused by all you've heard about the Affordable Care Act marketplace insurance plans? Do you know whether you're in — or out — of the narrow networks? How will you tell if a patient is on an exchange plan? What happens to you if patients don't make their premium payments? What, if anything, can you do about all of this? TMA answers these and other tough marketplace exchange questions.

Special Report

The fields of engagement — the Texas Legislature, U.S. Congress, courts, state and federal bureaucracies — are many. The issues are all-encompassing. But TMA’s approach is clear in this second edition.
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